Improved Effectiveness of the Anti-Obesity Campaign - Essay Example

Creative Campaign Name Institution Swap It, Don’t Stop It Swap I, Don’t stop it is a national social marketing campaign promoting simple, healthy food consumed by people and the activity they take part in with an aim of encouraging people to reduce the size of their waist lines. The campaign also focuses on improving the overall health and the well being of people across the nation. The campaign is the latest “how to” phase of the measure up campaigns by the Australian government. Excess weight on the waistline is responsible for the development of serious complicated health problems including developing lifestyle related chronic diseases. Examples of such diseases include type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart diseases. The campaign highlights several facts about an individual losing their eights without necessarily losing out on the things the individual loves doing. The key advice of the campaign is swapping big for small otherwise known as portion control. Other issues the campaign advices on are occasional treats, swapping fried for fresh also termed nutritional quality, swapping sitting for moving and watching for playing. The campaign advocates for nutritional health quality, engagement in physical activity and participating in occasional treats. The underlying idea of the campaign remains as to make people make several changes for a healthier lifestyle. The animation responsible for spearheading the campaign is Eric a blue likable balloon character with a down to earth personality. Eric and his family get featured in all media including on television advertisements, online, in print and in outdoor and radio advertisements. They demonstrate how an individual should start swapping. Most of the resources for the campaign are available via www.shapeup.gov.au. The resources includes a 12 week planner, an iPhone app and several fact sheets and resources needed for helping the community to start and continue shaping up. Several agencies play a key role in promoting the campaign. The Australian National Preventive Agency is responsible for promoting health living for all Australians. The agency was set up 1 January 2011 as an inter-jurisdictional agency responsible for dealing with obesity and the issues it causes in the general public. Other issues it deals with are harmful alcohol abuse, and tobacco use. The media is also another important agency that takes part in supporting the campaign. The media advertises the campaign through its spearheading animation character Eric. Ways of reducing the sizes of waists are advertised on various platforms of the media including the social media, the radio, and television channels. The campaign is also advertised all over the internet. All these platforms advocate for the ways portrayed as ways of staying healthy and safe by the public in order to avoid obesity and its harmful effects. The government plays a role as the main agency in support of the campaign. The government does this by taking the campaign to the grassroots and educating people of ways of sustaining a healthy lifestyle. The government does this by engaging people in public education on the nutritional requirements, the physical activities and other methods of staying obese free hence maintaining a healthy life. Major sectors of the government such as the health sector play the major role of spearheading the campaign with an aim of reducing health complications accompanied obesity and large waist lines. The health sectors do so by explaining the importance of the campaign to the public. According to the campaign, the demands are rather manageable as the individuals do not have to abandon their lifestyle completely for a completely different form of living. Rather, the individuals need to step up and swap the bad habits for better and healthy habits. Stake holders The major stakeholders for the campaign are the Queensland Non Governmental Organizations. In conjunction with the national partnership for preventive health, Queensland Health has taken part in funding four key initiatives aimed at supporting the campaign. Other key stakeholders for the campaign include Queensland Health’s Regional Health Services, Ethnic Communities Council Queensland (ECCQ), Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council (QHAIHC) and Diabetes Australia -Queensland is all delivering these initiatives. Diabetes Australia-Queensland is currently leading a public relations and health promotional program that is aimed at supporting the Swap It campaign. Diabetes Australia works in conjunction with public health nongovernmental organizations with the aim of promoting the campaign, creating public awareness of the risk factors associated with obesity, obtaining funds for the campaign and funding every step of the campaign. The program I basically focused on dealing with Queenslanders aged between 25-50 years of age living with the risk of obtaining serious health issues associated with chronic diseases in the population living in the region’s rural and metropolitan areas. The partners of the project in addition to the Queensland Diabetes are the Heart Foundation, the Cancer Council of Australia and Nutritional Australia. All these agencies work together to ensure the Australians in Queensland live a health life. The Ngo program as live from January 2012 to June 2013 using cobranded events, media activity, promotions involving websites, the social media and the internet in general with the aim of motivating individuals across the state. The agency and the clients need to use certain strategies to in the ultimate support of these stakeholders. The agency needs to advertise the importance of working as a community in solving the issues associated with the rather wide waistlines among the population. The agency uses the campaign to advocate the need of living a healthy life with the aim of saving the numerous lives lost by the unhealthy forms of life the public is fond of. The campaign suggests that the solution to the obesity facing the country is indeed not abandoning the forms of life the people are used to. The solution entails the public swapping their rather termed bad habits with safer habits. The agency encourages the public to swap the watching of activities to actually participating in the physical activities. It also urges the public to replace the unhealthy eating habits with rather healthy eating habits such as regular consumption of fruits. All this play a major role in gaining support from the stakeholders for the campaign. The above stated major stakeholders in the campaign have a sole responsibility of ensuring the effectiveness of the campaign. This is by funding the projects the agency establishes for the promotion of the campaign. The stakeholders fund the activities and the people taking part in promoting the program. They also promote the campaigns by funding for its advertisements hence enabling the creation of public awareness on the issue. Most of the agencies taking part offering support for the agency in its activities of promoting the campaign are nongovernmental organization. But as stated above, some of the major stakeholders also include governmental organization. The government’s health sector, for example, plays a major role in ensuring the effectiveness of the campaign program. The government funds the agency through the public health sector. The agency therefore has to win the support of both nongovernmental and governmental organization by advertising the benefits of the program. These benefits include reducing the deaths caused by the negative effects of obesity to the public. They also promote the solutions involved in the campaign against such lifestyles responsible for causing chronic diseases to the public. Activities for the Campaign The activities the agency takes part in with the aim of promoting and ensuring the success of the campaign includes the following. The agency takes part in promoting the Swapper Show that involves healthy lifestyles presentations with Swap it Ambassador Duncan Armstrong. The show is entailed to create a public awareness of the effects and solutions of living with obesity. The agency also takes part in supporting partner and stakeholders activities. Such activities include Cancer Council Queensland Relays for major life events. The agency and its members also take part in attending community events that are aimed at giving the partners and the stakeholders a voice and also organizing strategic media partnerships aimed spread the campaign an enlist local swappers in the campaign. Supporting the broader NGO network to get involved in the campaign is also a major activity the agency takes part in as well as providing necessary information and resources to the NGO sector. The project also has a website that is aimed at spreading information about necessitating the effectiveness of the campaign to the general public. The website contains the steps to be taken by the individuals wanting to employ the campaign to solve the issues the face with obesity as well as the agency’s main programs in helping the community. When the Campaign was produced The history of the campaign began with the establishment of the Diabetes Australia agency in the year 1968. The agency was set up with the aim of notifying the public of the causative agents of type 2 diabetes. The agency offered the public advice on living with diabetes and ways of curbing it. Since its establishment, the agency was able to support more than 180,000 registrants and more than 50,000 financial members in Queensland area. The Success of the Campaign The swap it stop it campaign can only be successful when almost everyone embraces it or tries it out. Since its establishment and by judging on the level of advertisement of the campaign it has recorded a success. By comparing the current community and that of some times in the past, one can clearly discover that more and more people are accepting swapping and they are using it almost in all their daily activities. People are beginning to realize that only a slight change of lifestyle can result to saving one from dangers of chronic diseases and even eventual death. The campaign has greatly altered the way the client has approached its communication. Most of the client response is positive. This is as per the resultant effects on the behavioral change of most of the people in the society. Most people have engaged in various modes of swapping their unhealthy behavior with rather health forms of lifestyle. Most people now consider nutrition and exercise as ways of attaining of a healthy form of lifestyle. It is only after the whole society in Queensland and other states in Australia that the deaths caused by chronic diseases associated with unhealthy forms of lifestyle that most people have adapted to. The campaign has also had an impact on the industry standards. Since most people are now abstaining from oily fast food, this form of industry has faced several changes. Due to customer movement away from the form of industry, most of the fast food stalls have run out of operation due to the lack of customers. People are constantly swapping the unhealthy foods for fresh fruit products. This has increased the demand for healthy foods and especially fresh fruit products. The fresh fruit industry has recorded an increase in the market hence leading to the success of most of the stalls in this form of industry. The campaign has also led to a change in the standards of most of the industries. This is as it has led to many of the food industries in Queensland and other states start adopting health standards in the production of food products. Health is one of the major ideas advocated for in the campaign. The fact that most of the agencies supporting the campaign advocate for healthy forms of living puts immense pressure on the food industry to consider the production of healthy foods for the community. The campaign also had several effects on the government. Some of the sectors of the government started receiving strict coordination. The health department of the government is now most considered with improving the health of the society now more than ever. This sector of government has started setting in place strategies of promoting healthy forms of lifestyles. The government also plays a major role in promoting the campaign by acting a major stakeholder for the campaign. Through this, the government funds the activities the agency takes part in trying to promote the campaign. Finally, the campaign has also had several effects on the consumers in general. This sector has probably received most of the effects of the campaign since they are the specifically targeted groups. Consumer consumptions patterns have incredibly faced incredible changes over the recent years. Most of the people in the state have started only consuming what they term as safe for their lives. Most people have abandoned unhealthy lifestyles or things they consider are unhealthy to use. Most of the people in most states in Australia have started embracing more of practice in their lifestyle. A case in example is the swapping of driving t work with the ridding of a bicycle, the taking a lift to stating taking stairs and the replacement of fatty foods with more healthy fruity diets. Most people have started embracing sapping their lifestyle for more healthy forms of living due to the pressure from the campaign on their conscience. Agent Client Relationships Most of the clients have remained with the agency signified by their constant support for the campaign. Due to the campaign, most of the clients have adopted the swapping campaign in most of their lives. The campaign demands more of a change in character. Since a change of character is rather hard to reverse, most of the clients of the campaign have remained loyal to it over time. People have constantly adopted healthy forms of living and subsequently incorporated them in their lives. The project has changed the relationship between the agents and clients. Most clients employing the swap it campaign have even started taking part as stakeholders for the project. Most clients have developed a close relationship with the agency. Most of the clients have gone to extents of funding the campaign. Some have also gone to extents of advocating and advertising the campaign hence enabling its success. Most of the people satisfied with what the campaign has made transformations in their lives have gone to extents of funding the agency. Some clients have even gone to the extents of advertising the campaigns. Client advertisements have been witnessed by them advocating for the spread of the campaign and even influencing other clients to adopt the principles of the campaign. The relationship between the clients and the agency has proven to be for the best intentions. This relationship can be described as mutual in nature since both the agency and the clients help better each other’s survival. According to Solomon’s arts of client service, working with clients in an industry provides several relationships between the clients and the agency. The type of relationship provided by this interaction determines the success level of the agency in reaching out to the client. The swap it campaign has led to a mutual form of relationship between the agency and the clients in Queensland (Solomon, 2003, p.43). This form of mutual relationship creates a double beneficence between the clients and the agency. This type of a relationship is hard to break especially when both the parties involved almost equally benefit from each other. This relationship has sustained the agency and its campaign in place over the times. Recommendations Recommendations for the nest steps for the clients include them taking part in advertising, funding, employing and deploying the campaign. The success of the campaign has been attributed to the mutual relationship between the clients and the agency. The clients should therefore, strive to adequately play their part for the success of the campaign. The clients can successfully play their parts by first considering themselves as stakeholders for the agency rather than the clients they are. They should start engaging in the agency’s activities just as other stakeholders. The clients can do this successfully by taking part in funding the campaigns by sending their individual contributions to the agency. The clients can also take part in advertising the agency and the campaign to other people. The advertisements can be done either physically by publicly taking part in swapping activities or by advising other people on the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle by swapping. The next step of the agency in the campaign includes the spreading of the campaign to other parts of the world. Over time, the campaign has proved itself successful in transforming most of the lives of the residents in Queensland. Most of the people have started living a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy foods and frequently engaging in physical activities. The agency should therefore expand the campaign to other parts of the world. This consideration is as obesity is a worldwide negative effect of health. Many people in the world are dying from the chronic diseases associated with obesity. Obesity in the recent years has become an issue in developing and developed world as the lack of time has made most people take part in less physical practice as well as adopt bad eating habits. Many of them live unhealthy lives that end up predisposing them to obesity. The agency should therefore consider spreading the campaign to other parts of the world that desperately need their help to fight obesity. The agency should also consider improving the efficiency of the campaign to increase its effects on the public. The agency can do this by advocating for more sponsors and also by increasing the advertisements. Advertising will play a major role in the success of the campaign as it will increase the number of clients taking part in it. The agency should focus more on the internet and the current technology as it tries to venture more in advertising their campaign. The current century comes with various technological advancements in the media that prompt for easier methods of advertisements. Apart from the clients and the agency, the campaign also has prospects for future developments. The campaign has spread the tentacles of its effects across Queensland. In the coming times, the campaign is prompt to greatly expand and incorporate other modes lifestyle. As times get going, the lifestyle of communities go on being more sophisticated than in the previous times. This makes it necessary for the campaign on the other hand to become more sophisticated than ever depending on the peoples’ living standards at the time. The agency should therefore, focus on increasing the effectiveness of the campaign. The effectiveness of the swap it campaign has been improved by its simplicity and beneficial effects. The campaign offers the clients simple solutions for dealing with obesity. The solutions do not require spending money working out but using the environment to solve health issues. All the clients are required t do is changing their lifestyles for better and more health cautious forms. The clients can change their diets for healthy forms of diets that do not predispose them to obesity and its effect. The clients can also use their immediate environment to enhance their physical practice. By the simple action of taking the steps instead of the lift, the clients can cut down on their weight. The clients can also swap their modes of transportation from driving to work to start riding bicycles to work. This enables the clients to cut down on eight problems they currently face. The campaign has also gone to extents of solving the health issues the clients face. Obesity causes many chronic diseases, diabetes and heart diseases. These have been responsible for the loss of many lives in the past and even the present. The campaign has therefore reduced the occurrence of most of these deaths. The campaign advocates for a change of lifestyle to enable the change to living a healthy form of life. The agency should however strive to expand its operations to other parts of the world. This would be beneficial to the many other individuals living in other parts of the world living unhealthy lifestyles that predispose them to obesity and its harmful effects. This is as most of the developed and developing countries face obesity as the main hindrance to the health of their populations. Reference Solomon, R. (2003). The art of client service. Chicago: Dearborn Trade. Read More